1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to coverings for architectural openings and more particularly to a covering that is housed within a frame and adapted to be secured to a building structure in an architectural opening.
2. Description of Relevant Art
Coverings for architectural openings have taken numerous forms for many years with early coverings simply being draperies that were draped around or across architectural openings such as windows, doorways, archways and the like. Through the years, coverings for architectural openings have assumed more modern looks and today include retractable draperies, curtains and various types of cellular or slatted covering such as venetian blinds and vertical blinds, all of which can be extended across an architectural opening or retracted to a side or sides of the opening.
Most coverings for architectural openings are freely suspended and hang by gravity and such an arrangement is satisfactory when the architectural opening itself is fixed, as the covering retains its relationship to the opening at all times. However, when an architectural opening is in a movable part of a building structure, for example, in a door or movable partition, unless the covering on the opening is confined, it will swing freely as the door or partition is moved, which can become a nuisance thereby discouraging people from using coverings on openings in such movable structures.
Also, whether or not the architectural opening is in a movable part of a building structure, it is sometimes undesirable to have pull cords, tilt wands or the like for operating the covering, with such cords and wands typically hanging freely adjacent one or both sides of the architectural opening. Such pull cords and wands are undesirable aesthetically to some people and, furthermore, pull cords have posed a hazard for young children who have been known to have body parts entangled in the pull cords causing bodily harm.
The present invention has been designed to overcome the problems previously associated with using a covering on an opening in a movable structure and to overcome shortcomings associated with dangling pull cords, tilt wands and the like.
One embodiment of the framed covering for architectural openings of the present invention includes an outer framework adapted to extend around the periphery or some portion of an architectural opening and a transparent or translucent panel supported by the framework so as to form an enclosure around the architectural opening. Within the enclosure, a collapsible shade is supported by the framework and movable between a closed position wherein it extends across the area defined by the frame and a retracted position adjacent one side of the frame. A control system in the form of a flexible cord or the like is operatively secured to the collapsible shade to move it between the open and closed positions with the control element extending through an opening in the framework for access by an operator of the shade. A stop is provided for retaining the shade in the closed position while gravity would normally move the shade from the closed to the open position, even though a reverse system could be employed.
In another embodiment of the present invention, a pull cord system is utilized to extend and retract a collapsible shade across a framed opening, but the pull cord system itself is operated by a finger slide disposed in the framework with operation of the covering being achieved simply through a sliding movement of the finger slide along the frame. The system is designed such that a relatively short stroke of the finger slide effects a greater movement of the covering so that the covering can be extended across the full architectural opening through a stroke of the finger that is less than the full dimension of the architectural opening.
Other aspects, features and details of the present invention can be more completely understood by reference to the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment, taken in conjunction with the drawings and from the appended claims.